Impact comminutor

ABSTRACT

One or more rotors of an impact comminutor are mounted within a housing. A hydraulic cylinder and piston unit is laterally offset from the axis of the rotor, or the axes of adjacent rotors, being pivotably mounted on a wall of the housing. The free end of the unit can be releasably engaged with a respective rotor or a plate mounted fixedly on the shaft of the rotor and provided with circumferentially spaced apertures for connecting purposes. Thus, operation of the cylinder and piston unit serves to displace the rotor angularly to a desired angular position.

iliiite tes tent 11 1 Smits 1 Get. 3%, 1973 IMPACT COMMENUTOR [75]Inventor: Bernhard Johannes Smits, Ahaus,

Germany [73] Assignee: Hazemag Hartzerkleinerungs-undZement-Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft M.B.H., Munster, Germany [22] Filed:Nov. 2, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 194,823

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 2, 1970 Germany P 20 53693.0

52 us. on 241/101.2, 241/187, 254/93 51 1111. on. B02c 13/20, B026 13/26581 Field 01 Search 241/101 R, 101.2, 241/187, 185 R, 285 R, 285 B, 231,191,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,603,515 9/1971 Lohmann241/101 R 3,096,077 7/1963 Forsyth 254/93 R Primary ExaminerDonald G.Kelly Attorney-Michael S. Striker [5 7] ABSTRACT One or more rotors ofan impact comminutor are mounted within a housing. A hydraulic cylinderand piston unit is laterally offset from the axis of the rotor, or theaxes of adjacent rotors, being pivotably mounted on a wall of thehousing. The free end of the unit can be releasably engaged with arespective rotor or a plate mounted fixedly on the shaft of the rotorand provided with circumferentially spaced apertures for connectingpurposes. Thus, operation of the cylinder and piston unit serves todisplace the rotor angularly to a desired angular position.

9 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure IMPACT COMMINUTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to comminutors, and moreparticularly to impact comminutors.

Impact comminutors are already known in a variety of different types andconstructions. Some of these are in form of hammer mills and others arein form of impact comminutors, but they all use one or more rotors whichturn in a housing and with which the material rocks and the like comesin contact to be impacted and crushed.

All such rotors are provided with beating instrumentalities, in the caseof hammer mills with hammers, and in the case of impact comminutors withbeater bars. Of course, over a period of time, these instrumentalitieswill wear or become damaged, and must then be removed for repair orreplacement. In order to do this, it is necessary to impart to the rotorsuch movement as to place the rotor into a requisite angular position sothat the lateral access openings provided in the housing will affordaccess to the impacting instrumentalities which are to be removed orreplaced. Many comminutors of the type here under discussion are ratherlarge, and their rotors are correspondingly heavy and difficult to turn.This means that manual displacement of the rotor to the desired angularposition is frequently impossible, whereas the drive which normallyturns the rotor during operation of the apparatus, also cannot be usedbecause it will turn the rotor much too fast and does not permitpositioning of the rotor in a desired angular position.

In addition, there is a further problem with this type of comminutors,namely once the rotor has been moved to the desired angular position, itis essential that it be arrested in this position to prevent it fromturning a circumstance which will necessarily occur as a result ofchanges in the center of gravity as certain of the beatinginstrumentalities are removed for replacement. Evidently, such undesiredand unintentional turning can lead to accidents of the personnelinvolved in working on the apparatus.

The problem has been recognized before and the art has, in fact, madeattempts to solve the problem. These attempts however, are withoutexception relatively complicated and expensive in their conception andconstruction, and in operation require a high degree of precision atsmall play in order to assure that the rotor will in fact be fixedlyarrested at the desired angular position. Thus, the known arrangementswhich usually utilize a gearing construction, must be dimensioned ratherlarge which is an additional disadvantage because it requires valuablespace which usually cannot be provided without increasing the overalldimensions of the comminutor, thus taking up floor space which is at apremium at most installations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of the presentinvention to provide an improved impact comminutor which is notpossessed of the above-mentioned disadvantages.

More particularly it is an object of the present invention to provide,in an impact comminutor, a construction in which the rotor can bereadily positioned in a desired angular position and can be arrested inthe once-assumed angular position.

A concomitant object of the invention is to provide such an arrangementwhich is very simple in its construction and operation, and whichrequires very little space.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide such anarrangement which is highly economical in its construction and can,according to an embodiment of the invention, be used with two adjacentrotors in cases where the comminutor has two or more rotors.

In pursuance of the above objects and of others which will becomeapparent hereafter, one feature of the invention resides in an impactcomminutor having a combination of wall means defining an interiorchamber and rotor means mounted for rotation in this chamber. A cylinderand piston unit has a first end and a second end, mounting means beingprovided which pivotaIly mounts the unit on the wall means laterallyoffset from the rotor means. Releasable connecting means is provided forreleasably connecting said second end of the unit with the rotor meansin order to move the latter to a desired angular position in response tooperation of the unit.

Thus, it is a simple matter of operating the cylinder and piston unitwhich advantageously but not necessarily is of the hydraulic type, tothereby turn the rotor to a desired angular position after the secondend of the unit has been connected with the rotor. Thereupon the rotoris arrested in the desired angular position by arresting means which isprovided according to a further concept of the invention.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The single FIGURE is a somewhatdiagrammatic end-elevational view of a comminutor embodying theinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention has beenillustrated by way of example in an impact comminutor of the typeprovided on its rotor with a plurality of beater bars which extendlongitudinally of the axis of rotation of the rotor. It is, however,equally applicable to any other type of comminutor having one or morerotors as was already pointed out. In addition, it should be noted thatthe invention has been illustrated in the form of an impact comminutorhaving two adjacent rotors; the invention is, of course, applicable alsoto impact comminutors having only a single rotor or to impactcomminutors having more than two rotors.

With this in mind it is pointed out that the drawing shows an impactcomminutor having a housing 1 bounded by wall means 1. Mounted forrotation in the housing 1, that is in the interior chamber thereof, aretwo diagrammatically illustrated rotors 10, which are shown in chainlines and provided on their peripheries with beater bars 100. Theserotors turn about axes 4 which in this embodiment extend in parallelismwith one another and are transversely spaced from one another.

It should be noted that the illustration is such as to show the end wallof the housing 1, provided with a pair of access openings 1" throughwhich access is to be had to the beater bars 10a. Consequently, thebeater bars 10a, which are located in registry with the respectiveopenings 1" are shown in full lines, whereas the other and the remainderof the respective rotor 10 are shown in chain lines.

Each of the rotors 10 is provided with a disc-shaped member 3 which ismounted outside the chamber on its respective shaft constituting theaxis of rotation, with the members 3 being fixed with the shaft androtatable therewith. Each of the members 3 is provided with a plurality(here four) of openings 5, which in the illustrated embodiment areequi-angularly spaced. Of course, more or fewer than these openingscould be provided and they need not be equi-angularly spaced.

Mounted on one of the walls 1 of the housing 1 is a cylinder and pistonunit 2 which shall be assumed to be hydraulically operated but it couldalso be operated otherwise. The unit 2 has two opposite ends a first oneof which is connected by suitable mounting means 1a (a pivot or thelike) to the wall of the housing 1 so that in its normal rest positionin which it is not used, the unit 2 will depend under the influence ofgravity from the pivot provided by the mounting means 1a in the chainline position. The opposite or second end of the unit 2 is provided withan eye or aperture 6.

When the respective rotors with which the unit 2 can selectively beconnected are to be turned to a desired angular position the unit 2 isconnected with the respective member 3 by for instance passing a pin orother connecting means 6a through one of the openings 5 and through theeye 6 of the unit 2. Thereafter the unit 2 is operated in a senseextending or retracting its piston rod whereby the rotor coupled with itcan be turned either in clockwise or in counterclockwise direction untilthe beater bar 10a or analogous element which is to be inspected orengaged through the respective opening 1 will be juxtaposed with thelatter.

It goes without saying that instead of providing the separatedisc-shaped members 3, the openings 5 could also be provided directly onthe respective rotor 10, and that instead of the openings 5 (either onthe member 3 or on the rotor itself) other connecting means could beprovided for instance projections or the like.

In operation, the unit 2 is pivoted about the point 1a towards that oneof the two rotors with which it is to cooperate, in the illustratedembodiment to the left-hand one, until it is in the full line positionshown. Because the point 1a is located equi-distantly between the axis4, the unit 2 will normally depend between the two members 3 out ofcontact with both until such time as it is to be used.

The unit 2 may be operated, for instance, by means of a foot-actuatedpump 9, with which it is connected in suitable manner via theillustrated (no reference numerals) hydraulic lines.

Of course, the mounting of the unit 2 can be reversed and the eye 6 canbe connected to the wall 1' by the mounting means la, whereas the otherend portion can be releasably connected with the respective rotors.

Once the rotor or rotors have been moved to the desired angular positionin response to operation of the unit 2, they should be restful in thisposition until such time as they are to be released again for subsequentrotation. This is accomplished by providing an arresting device 7having, in the illustrated embodiment, at least one or two transverselyspaced lugs 7 the single lug 7 is formed with an opening 8 or, if two ofthe lugs are provided transversely spaced from one another, there aretwo openings 8 provided which are in registry with one another. The lugs7 are so located that they overlap the members 3 as illustrated, and ofcourse, if there are two of the lugs 7 provided then the respective discmember 3 will be located between them. The openings 8 are so locatedthat the openings 5 of the associated disc-member 3 can be placed intoregistry with the respective opening or openings 8. Thus, when the rotor10 has assumed the desired angular position, with the aid of the unit 2,and when one of the openings 5 of its disc member 3 is in registry withthe opening or openings 8, then arresting can simply be carried out byinserting a pin or the like through the registering openings 5 and 8,thereby preventing the rotor N) from turning and retaining it in theselected angular position until such time that the ball or pin iswithdrawn. Disc-shaped member 3 may be in the form of a single disc ortwo parallel discs, the latter thus aligning the pins or otherconnecting means 6a with opening 8 in lug or lugs 7 or with eye 6 moreaccurately.

For the sake of completeness, the cooperating impact units l0b have alsobeen illustrated which cooperate with the rotors 10 and on whichmaterial flung by the rotors and flung against the units 10b, will crashto fall back on the rotors and obtain additional impacts in the sensecomminuting it. These units 101) have been shown only for orientationand do not form part of the present invention, being entirelyconventional in the impact-rebound type of comminutor.

it will be appreciated that the present invention achieves theafore-mentioned objects and does so in a simple and reliable as well asexpedituous manner. The space requirements of the novel arrangement arevery small, and on the other hand, manual turning of the rotor is nolonger necessary. Then again, the rotor can be reliably and for anydesired period of time arrested in the selected angular position,thereby avoiding the possibility of accidental turning and danger to anoperator.

Although as pointed out above, the invention is applicable to acomminutor having only a single rotor, it will be appreciated that it isparticularly advantageous where a comminutor has two or more rotors,because a single unit 2 can serve two adjacent ones of the rotors. Thus,the economy of constructing the arrangement according to the presentinvention is also significantly improved over what is known from theprior art.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in animpact comminutor, it is not intended to be limited to the details shownsince various modifications and structural changes may be made withoutdeparting in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge,readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features,that from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an impact comminutor, in combination, wall means defining aninterior chamber and having an outer side; rotor means mounted forrotation in said chamber and including a shaft having a shaft portionlocated at said outer side; a disk member fixedly mounted on said shaftportion and provided with a plurality of connecting portions which arespaced about the circumference of said shaft; a cylinder and piston unithaving a first end and a second end; mounting means cooperating withsaid first end and pivotally mounting said unit on said wall meanslaterally spaced from said shaft and disk member; and connecting meansfor releasably connecting said second end of said unit with respectiveones of said connecting portions when it is desired to change theangular position of said rotor means, so as to move the latter to adesired angular position in response to operation of said unit and priorto release of said connecting means from the respective connectingportion.

2. In an impact comminutor as defined in claim 1, wherein said unit is ahydraulic cylinder-and-piston unit.

3. In an impact comminutor, in combination, wall means defining aninterior chamber; rotor means mounted for rotation in said chamber andcomprising a rotary shaft; a cylinder and piston unit having a first endand a second end; mounting means cooperating with said first end andpivotally mounting said unit in said wall means laterally offset fromsaid rotor means; and releasable connecting means for releasablyconnecting said second end of said unit with said rotor means, includinga disk member fixed with said rotor means so as to rotate with saidshaft and being provided with a plurality of angularly spaced openings,and a connector engageable with said second end and in a respective oneof said openings so as to move said rotor means to a desired angularposition in response to operation of said unit.

4. In an impact comminutor as defined in claim 3, wherein said openingsare equi-angularly spaced.

5. In an impact comminutor as defined in claim 3; further comprising anarresting element on said wall means, and including an arresting memberoperative for engagement with said arresting element and in a respectiveone of said openings for arresting said rotor means in the respectiveangular position.

6. In an impact comminutor as defined in claim 3, wherein said secondend is provided with an eye, and wherein said connector is a pininsertable into said eye and respective ones of said openings.

7. In an impact comminutor, in combination wall means defining aninterior chamber; rotor means mounted for rotation in said chamber andincluding a pair of rotors rotatable about transversely spaced andsubstantially parallel axes; a cylinder and piston unit having a firstend and a second end; mounting means cooperating with said first end andmounting said unit on said wall means substantially midway between saidaxes for pivotal displacement from a normal substantially verticalposition to respective lateral positions inclined towards the respectiverotor axis from said normal position; and connecting means forreleasably connecting said second end of said unit with a respectiveselected one of said rotors so as to move the latter to a desiredangular position in response to operation of said unit.

8. In an impact comminutor as defined in claim 1, wherein said mountingmeans mounts said first end of said unit on said wall means for movementabout a pivot axis located at a level higher than the level at whichsaid disk member is located.

9. In an impact comminutor as defined in claim I, wherein said secondend comprises a portion configurated as an eye, and said connectingportions are holes in said disk members; and wherein said connectingmeans comprises a pin which can be inserted into and withdrawn from saideye and selected ones of said

1. In an impact comminutor, in combination, wall means defining aninterior chamber and having an outer side; rotor means mounted forrotation in said chamber and including a shaft having a shaft portionlocated at said outer side; a disk member fixedly mounted on said shaftportion and provided with a plurality of connecting portions which arespaced about the circumference of said shaft; a cylinder and piston unithaving a first end and a second end; mounting means cooperating withsaid first end and pivotally mounting said unit on said wall meanslaterally spaced from said shaft and disk member; and connecting meansfor releasably connecting said second end of said unit with respectiveones of said connecting portions when it is desired to change theangular position of said rotor means, so as to move the latter to adesired angular position in response to operation of said unit and priorto release of said connecting means from the respective connectingportion.
 2. In an impact comminutor as defined in claim 1, wherein saidunit is a hydraulic cylinder-and-piston unit.
 3. In an impactcomminutor, in combination, wall means defining an interior chamber;rotor means mounted for rotation in said chamber and comprising a rotaryshaft; a cylinder and piston unit having a first end and a second end;mounting means cooperating with said first end and pivotally mountingsaid unit in said wall means laterally offset from said rotor means; andreleasable connecting means for releasably connecting said second end ofsaid unit with said rotor means, including a disk member fixed with saidrotor means so as to rotate with said shaft and being provided with aplurality of angularly spaced openings, and a connector engageable withsaid second end and in a respective one of said openings so as to movesaid rotor means to a desired angular position in response to operationof said unit.
 4. In an impact comminutor as defined in claim 3, whereinsaid openings are equi-angularly spaced.
 5. In an impact comminutor asdefined in claim 3; further comprising an arresting element on said wallmeans, and including an arresting member operative for engagement withsaid arresting element and in a respective one of said openings forarresting said rotor means in the respective angular position.
 6. In animpact comminutor as defined in claim 3, wherein said second end isprovided with an eye, and wherein said connector is a pin insertableinto said eye and respective ones of said openings.
 7. In an impactcomminutor, in combination wall means defining an interior chamber;rotor means mounted for rotation in said chamber and including a pair ofrotors rotatable about transversely spaced and substantially parallelaxes; a cylinder and piston unit having a first end and a second end;mounting means cooperating with said first end and mounting said unit onsaid wall means substantially midway between said axes for pivotaldisplacement from a normal substantially vertical position to respectivelateral positions inclined towards the respective rotor axis from saidnormal position; and connecting means for releasably connecting saidsecond end of said unit with a respective selected one of said rotors soas to move the latter to a desired angular position in response tooperation of said unit.
 8. In an impact comminutor as defined in claim1, wherein said mounting means mounts said first end of said unit onsaid wall means for movement about a pivot axis located at a levelhigher than the level at which said disk member is located.
 9. In animpact comminutor as defined in claim 1, wherein said second endcomprises a portion configurated as an eye, and said connecting portionsare holes in said disk members; and wherein said connecting meanscomprises a pin which can be inserted into and withdrawn from said eyeand selected ones of said holes.